We already have all the technologies we need to go 100% renewable. The only real challenge is the pace of adoption.
So how do we overcome these obstacles in order to move faster and faster?
Energy efficiency. It IMMEDIATELY AND PERMANENTLY reduces carbon, often requires zero utility input or approval, and saves people money.
Home efficiency is a total no-brainer. There is no faster payback period in any investment in the clean tech world than efficiency, and since you have control over your home, there’s very little barrier.
The home efficiency can be achieved by simple acts of installing LED lighting, high efficiency water fixtures, and advance power strips.
While home retrofitting is great, the gains from the commercial sector can be on a whole other level.
Take Carbon Lighthouse, for instance, a San Francisco-based startup that has helped eliminate the power needs of more than 8 power plants and reduced 177,000 metric tons of carbon pollution.
Industrial Energy Efficiency is a whole different level. Hawaii Engineering, a company which has installed and maintained high efficiency mechanisms to handle wastewater on islands across the Pacific, from Guam to Maui to Oahu to Saipan.
Their extensive product line covers nearly every aspect of municipal systems from pumps, electrical controls, valves, and flow-meters to wastewater treatment plant headworks, and chlorination and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection systems.
While people are concerned about climate, a much bigger percent of the population is concerned about money so any idea that is seen as saving money for all stakeholders in real-terms will click.
The cheapest electricity is the electricity you don’t use. Making energy efficient choices is the easiest and most affordable way to make big impacts…
Reference- Clean Technica, Carbon Lighthouse website, Hawaii Engineer